The ruling on depositing one's money in the bank, and how to get rid of the usurious interest?
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The questioner : O Shaykh, what is the ruling on one who deposits his money in the bank? And how does he get rid of the usurious interest?
The Shaykh : Listen, Abu 'Abdullah, if someone told your father that he should not benefit from this money, as you mentioned, the answer is to advise your father not to deposit his money in the bank at all, even if he does not take the riba. Otherwise, if it is said to one who deposits his money that he should not benefit from the riba, this implies that there is no objection to depositing your money in the bank as long as you do not eat the riba. This is precisely the error; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say:Al-Mustadrak lil-Hakim 15:4. So your father, for example, in the question, does not eat the riba, but he causes it to be eaten.
The questioner : He does not eat it and does not feed it to anyone else...?
The Shaykh : It is eaten by the bank—may Allah bless you. So if the one who issued the fatwa as I mentioned earlier said that it is obligatory for you not to deal with the bank at all, even if you do not take the riba, then by advising him, the rest is up to the father, which is to accept the advice. But many people handle matters with half-measures, so after he knows that it is not permissible to eat the riba or to feed it to others, he says, "It is enough for me that I do not eat it myself, but if I benefit the bank, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
The second question comes: What does he do with this riba that is given to him?
The form you mentioned is not permissible; because this forbidden money is not permissible for a specific person to benefit from, even if he is poor. Rather, this money is to be spent in what the jurists call public facilities, meaning such that the benefit does not return to a specific person. So the form of the car that you depicted or mentioned earlier, a specific person benefits from it; this is not permissible.
The questioner : The question my brother Ahmad mentioned: is the bank the one who eats and the one who feeds? And the one who puts his money in the bank... is he the same?
The Shaykh : No, he is not eating it and not feeding it, he is feeding it. As long as he does not take the riba, he is not an eater of it, but his offering the money and placing it in the bank causes the riba to be eaten by another, which is the bank.
The questioner : As for the bank, it is both the one who eats and the one who feeds.
The Shaykh : Listen, Abu 'Abdullah, if someone told your father that he should not benefit from this money, as you mentioned, the answer is to advise your father not to deposit his money in the bank at all, even if he does not take the riba. Otherwise, if it is said to one who deposits his money that he should not benefit from the riba, this implies that there is no objection to depositing your money in the bank as long as you do not eat the riba. This is precisely the error; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say:
May Allah curse the one who eats riba and the one who feeds it.
لعن الله آكل الربا وموكلهThe questioner : He does not eat it and does not feed it to anyone else...?
The Shaykh : It is eaten by the bank—may Allah bless you. So if the one who issued the fatwa as I mentioned earlier said that it is obligatory for you not to deal with the bank at all, even if you do not take the riba, then by advising him, the rest is up to the father, which is to accept the advice. But many people handle matters with half-measures, so after he knows that it is not permissible to eat the riba or to feed it to others, he says, "It is enough for me that I do not eat it myself, but if I benefit the bank, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
The second question comes: What does he do with this riba that is given to him?
The form you mentioned is not permissible; because this forbidden money is not permissible for a specific person to benefit from, even if he is poor. Rather, this money is to be spent in what the jurists call public facilities, meaning such that the benefit does not return to a specific person. So the form of the car that you depicted or mentioned earlier, a specific person benefits from it; this is not permissible.
The questioner : The question my brother Ahmad mentioned: is the bank the one who eats and the one who feeds? And the one who puts his money in the bank... is he the same?
The Shaykh : No, he is not eating it and not feeding it, he is feeding it. As long as he does not take the riba, he is not an eater of it, but his offering the money and placing it in the bank causes the riba to be eaten by another, which is the bank.
The questioner : As for the bank, it is both the one who eats and the one who feeds.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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